We follow the young firefighter as the other roams the hall, knocking on doors, and others are running up and down the stairwell. I feel bad that they’re here for no reason, but it did save our lives. And as I look at Marie as she talks with the fireman, flirting with him, I know she thinks it was worth it too.
Once we’re outside, there’s chaos, but I manage to scan the crowd of apartment dwellers, firefighters, policemen, and lookie-loos, and I don’t spot the men in suits anywhere.
I don’t know how long we stand outside, the firemen and police checking the building from top to bottom, being extra thorough, though the more I stand outside, the more I feel like a sitting duck with a target on my back.
After what seems like forever, a white Toyota pulls up beside us, screeching to a halt, and the back door opens. Blaise is inside, waving me in.
I look at Marie. “Are you going to be okay?”
“Are you?” she asks.
“I think so.” I look back at Blaise and then to her. She’s gazing up at the firefighter, and I know that no matter what happens, she’s no dummy. If she sticks around him, she’ll be fine.
“Text me,” she says. “We’ll get through this. Whatever you need, I’ll do for you. I love you.”
“I love you too,” I tell her, ashamed for a moment that I even thought she would ever turn her back on me. Then I quickly get in the back of the car.
I’ve barely closed the door before the car is pulling away down the street and Blaise is pulling me into his arms. “Seraphine, Seraphine,” he whispers. “I thought I lost you.” He cradles my face in his hands and kisses me over and over again.
I wrap my fingers around his coat collar and bury my head in the crook of his neck, breathing in deep. His smell, his warmth, the fact that he’s alive and I’m alive, and in this moment in time, we’re safe.
We’re together.
“What happened?” he asks, and I lift my head to stare into his eyes. God, how could I have ever thought that his eyes held anything but love for me? I see it now, clear as day. “Did you see the men? Are you okay?”
I nod, trying to keep from crying, the fear of everything slamming into me like a fist to my chest. “They came as soon as Marie was leaving. She saw them, she knew they were coming for me. I locked the door, but they knew I was in there. Then Marie pulled the fire alarm. It was the only way out.”
“Your Marie sounds like a good friend.”
I nod. “Yes. But . . . how did you know they were coming?”
He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I had quite the morning.” He looks up at the driver in the rearview mirror. “We’re not being followed?”
The driver grins at him. “No, sir.”
It’s only then that I realize it’s the same driver from earlier this morning. “How long have you been in this Uber for?” I ask Blaise.
“He’s starting to feel like a long-lost friend.”
“Most exciting morning of my life,” the driver says.
“And where are we going?” I ask Blaise. “What do we do?”
“We’re going to a hotel outside Paris. We’ll take a few days to figure it out.”
“What can we possibly figure out?” I ask.
But Blaise just gives me a tight smile, and I realize that as much as this driver has been a big help to us, he’s not ready to hear everything.
I close my eyes, rest my head in the crook of Blaise’s neck, and fall asleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
SERAPHINE
The Uber ends up taking us to Disneyland Paris, which is far outside the city. When we pull up outside of one of the Disneyland hotels, I look at Blaise, and he just gives me a small smile, his eyes shining brightly for the first time in what feels like forever.
“I figured when it feels like our world is ending, we might as well spend it at the happiest place on Earth. Besides, I don’t think anyone would look for us here.”
I don’t dare argue. As soon as we get out of the Uber—it looks like Blaise has handed the driver the entire contents of his wallet, plus a business card—and we’re enveloped in the sprawl of the resort, surrounded by happy families and laughing children running around in costumes, it really does feel safe. It feels normal.
We don’t have any luggage, but the front-desk person doesn’t seem to notice, though she takes a second glance at Blaise’s black eye and bruises, and soon we’re heading up to one of the suites at the top floor.
The moment the door closes behind us, I nearly collapse to the floor. Blaise locks the door, and then he’s at my side, pulling me into an embrace and kissing me wildly.
There are so many questions going through my head, so many unknowns, but they all dissolve into dust the moment I feel his lips on mine. The adrenaline that was surging through my body is now funneling into the desire for him and only him.
Always only him.
All we’ve been through in the last twenty-four hours is coming out in surges and waves, and just like last night, I’m craving the release, needing the escape, wanting that connection to him.
His hands pull my coat off, and I’m pulling off his, and it’s then that we both look at each other and realize what a fucking mess we both are. My blouse is torn, my pants ripped and dirty. His shirt is splattered with blood, so much blood.
“We need to get ourselves clean before we get ourselves dirty again.” He takes my hand and leads me to the large marble bathroom, and we quickly undress as he turns on the showerhead. He leads me into the shower, the water powerful and hot, and he brings my naked body right up against him.
He lays kisses down my neck as he brushes the hair off my shoulder, then his head dips to my breasts, where he gently cups and cradles as his tongue swirls around my nipple.
I moan, my eyes closed, head back in the falling water, feeling it wash everything away. I’m becoming new, my sins are being cleansed, and yet nothing feels so lush and decadent as Blaise as his wide palms roam around my slick body, running down between my breasts, over my stomach, and between my legs.
I immediately let him in, the slow tease and push of his fingers, while he pulls my nipple into his hot mouth, pinching the hardened tip between his teeth.
Another noise escapes my mouth, this one harsh and sharp and full of mindless need. That’s what I want right now—to feel just this and only this, only him, as he makes my body run wild with desire.
“I need to be inside you. I need to feel you, to know that I have you,” he says hoarsely, the lust dripping in his voice. But it’s not just lust. It’s not just this primal drive that I know is awakening within each of us. It’s a need for each other on a deeper level, a place so deep that only our bodies together can seem to reach it.
But before I give myself to him in that way, I want to give myself to him in another way.
I grab his cock, making a fist, and kiss him madly as I pump my hand up and down his shaft.
He groans, biting his lip, eyes pinched shut from the pleasure. I step back an inch, just to see the water pour down the sculpted planes of his body, the battered features of his face, the way his eyelashes glisten when wet.
Then I sink down to a crouch and take his cock into my mouth, slowly, carefully, wanting to take my time in teasing him, in letting him know that I want to do this for him, want to bring him pleasure.